SHG comes back to beat Montini for 5A state title

DEKALB -- Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard matched his son in career titles following the Cyclones' 38-28 win over Lombard Montini in the 5A championship game at Huskie Stadium on the Northern Illinois University campus.

On Friday night, Rochester High School coach Derek Leonard won his fourth state football title with the Rockets' 16-8 victory over Geneseo in the Class 4A championship.

On Saturday, Sacred Heart-Griffin coach Ken Leonard matched his son in career titles following the Cyclones' 38-28 win over Lombard Montini in the 5A championship game at Huskie Stadium on the Northern Illinois University campus.

In the process, Montini's streak of four Class 5A titles died.

"The Leonard family had a good weekend," Ken Leonard said of the first father-and-son head coaching duo to win state football titles in the same year. "This one is a sweet one. We wanted to show everybody ... there is football played south of (Interstate) 80."

Back from brink

Montini (13-1) led 14-0 following SHG punts on its first two possessions, with the Cyclones managing three first downs in that span.

On SHG's third drive, quarterback Gabe Green found University of Illinois-bound wide receiver Malik Turner for a 43-yard gain to get into Montini territory. A defensive holding penalty gave SHG first-and-goal from the Montini 9.

Anthony DiNello scored from the 2 to cut the Broncos' lead in half.

It didn't last long and any momentum the Cyclones had just gained was handed right back after Derrick Curry had an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just 10 seconds later. Montini led 21-7 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.

"I think we had a little bit of jitters," Leonard said of his team's early play.

In the second quarter, the Cyclones' defense forced Montini to punt for the first time all game.

SHG only needed two plays to get back in it, with Green rushing for a 56-yard touchdown, cutting Montini's lead to one score.

SHG continued to frustrate Montini on defense, getting a turnover on downs and a punt, but was unable to do much itself on offense.

With 2 minutes 56 seconds left in the half, Montini started a drive that would take it from the Broncos' 36 to the SHG 4, with four downs to score and less than a minute to punch it in.

Montini quarterback Alex Wills had a 1-yard carry, then threw an incomplete pass before SHG linebacker Chris Overton sacked Wills on third down for a loss of 12 yards and time ran out before the Broncos could get off a field goal attempt on fourth down.

"For the last five weeks, our defense has been absolutely shut-down," Leonard said.

Fired up

That stop was bigger for the SHG confidence than any other play in the game. The SHG players — led by Leonard — were yelling in celebration heading to the locker room.

Page 2 of 2 - "I had to get my kids fired up and I think half of Montini wanted to kick my butt," Leonard said. "I was feeling like I was 35 again. As a head coach, you have to set the tone.

"At that point, we knew we could win."

Members of the Montini coaching staff took offense — whether they thought SHG's yells were directed at them or not — and started yelling back at SHG. Leonard, now looking at the Montini sideline, had a few words to say back to the Broncos' coaches.

"When we don't execute, we get frustrated and that's the competitiveness of my coaches and my kids and myself included," Montini coach Chris Andriano said. "They rode that momentum at the beginning of the third quarter."

SHG's bravado also carried over with yells toward the Montini crowd, with players and coaches getting into a back-and-forth exchange with the fans above their locker room entrance.

Following halftime, it was all SHG.

Kenny Rowe hit a 39-yard field goal early in the third quarter, Green ran for two more touchdowns, DiNello added an insurance touchdown late as the Cyclones scored 31 straight points on Montini.

Green's 110 passing yards were eclipsed by his 145 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

"We pick one guy out on (the opponents') defense and we read him," Green said of his open running lanes. "We'll pull guys to the other side, it started to work and we just kept doing it."

SHG finished with 268 yards rushing on 48 carries.

"Their quarterback does a real nice job with that read," Andriano said.